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Filipino Times
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Filipino Times
Briones admits to watching e-sabong video during house session but denies gambling
AGAP Party-list Representative Nicanor Briones admitted that he was the lawmaker seen watching an e-sabong video on his phone during the opening of the 20th Congress on July 28. In a press conference, Briones apologized for the incident but clarified that he was not participating in online gambling. He said the video was sent to him via Facebook Messenger and he only opened it briefly. 'Sa totoo lang, may nag message sa'kin sa Messenger. So, tinignan ko lang naman. Hindi ko naman akalain na meron palang magkukuha ng aking mga private messages. Nagulat na lang ako, dahil alam ko naman merong hindi dapat tinitignan. Pero okay lang 'yon, dahil malinis naman konsensya ko, 'di ako nagsasabong. 'Di mo ako makikita sa sabungan,' he said. He also denied allegations that he transferred money online, calling the claims 'fake news.' Briones said he does not use e-wallets or online payment platforms, describing himself as 'old school.' The lawmaker said he has forgiven the person who took the video and spread the footage, but warned them not to repeat the act. Briones expressed embarrassment over the controversy and apologized to House Speaker Martin Romualdez, saying the incident may have cast a negative image on the House of Representatives. Earlier this week, Briones drew criticism after being caught on video watching an online cockfighting match while voting for the next House Speaker. His identity was initially unclear, as the footage only showed his back, but a closer shot revealed details of an e-sabong match with the text '1st Fight Left Side' and '2nd Fight Right Side.'
NZ Herald
12 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Convicted dealer says ‘it's easy' to sell drugs, weapons on Facebook
That technology can detect posts including images of drugs or depictions associated with the potential intent to sell, the company said. A former drug dealer told Michael Morrah there's been a huge increase in illegal products being sold on social media platforms. The Herald's informant, who asked to remain anonymous, said Meta never disabled the closed groups on Facebook Messenger he'd use to advertise and sell drugs. 'I've never seen Meta take down a [drug dealing] group. I've never seen Meta take down any of my posts. I've never seen Meta do anything about any of the hundreds of people that I know that do the exact same thing,' he told the Herald. On Friday, the Herald revealed dealers were blatantly advertising the sale of magic mushrooms on Facebook Marketplace – an open trading site used by millions of New Zealanders. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith called the situation 'outrageous' and said he'd be contacting Meta about the issue. Following the story, the Herald was sent multiple screenshots of other drugs circulating on closed groups on other platforms including Facebook Messenger and Signal. An ad on Messenger for cocaine in Auckland advised customers extra charges for fuel would apply for deliveries outside Mangere. One ad offered cocaine ranging in quantities from half a gram to a kilogram of the drug, with the seller saying 'gas fee applies' for deliveries outside of Māngere. Another listing showed hundreds of pink ecstasy pills next to a drug testing kit which said, 'bulk sales only'. The Herald's informant, who said he's no longer selling drugs, was confident the ads were legitimate. 'You name it, if you want it, you can get it on these [social media] groups,' he said. He said sellers would often emphasise their products had been tested for purity or include anonymous customer reviews in their posts which was 'just another marketing tactic'. An ad posted to a private Facebook Messenger group claiming to sell ecstasy pills. The man first started selling cannabis around a decade ago before switching to the sale of harder drugs. He said part of the reason for speaking out was to raise awareness about the proliferation of illegal online sales, the massive quantities of drugs now on offer, and the risk to young people. 'There's a lot of kids on social media. There are a lot of impressionable people on social media. There are a lot of people who have never used a narcotic in their life and suddenly it's easily accessible,' he said. An ad for MDMA claims the product has been tested for purity. Court documents confirm the man interviewed by the Herald has multiple drug convictions and was most recently sentenced to home detention in 2023 for procuring and possessing stimulants and depressants. 'I've been convicted on procurement of LSD, Valium, possession of Xanax, selling cannabis, MDMA,' he said. When he was selling on Messenger, he said he felt 'bulletproof' because police were unable to get access to such groups. 'How are police gonna get in there? Meta themselves have end to end encryption, so they can't read what's going on in there,' he said. 'I've never had an account banned for dealing drugs, and that's with drugs as my profile picture.' Detective Senior Sergeant Kepal Richards says social media sales of drugs is increasing which reflects a broader shift towards online use. 19 March, 2025. NZME photograph by Mark Mitchell Detective Senior Sergeant Kepal Richards of the national criminal investigations group told the Herald police are seeing a 'steady increase' in illegal sales on social media platforms. 'Offenders are increasingly using encrypted apps and other tools to conceal their identities, making these activities difficult to trace,' he said. However, he said police remain committed to investigating all forms of online offending and encouraged the public to report any suspicious activity. Ghost guns and tasers As well as drugs, closed social media groups offer weapons, including 'ghost guns', some 3D-printed, homemade tasers and mace, according to the former dealer. 'In the last two years, there's a lot more firearms groups kind of popping up [on social media],' he told the Herald. Ghost guns are untraceable firearms privately manufactured often using parts or components printed from computer blueprints. The Herald's informant said 3D-printed guns appear to be 'hugely popular' on social media. 'Some groups have shotguns only; some are rifles only. There are ghost guns [3D printed versions]. You've also got niche things like tasers and mace, homemade mace,' he said. An image of a homemade taser sent to the Herald being marketed for sale on Facebook Messenger. The Herald was unable to verify the claims of 3D guns being sold on social media, but last year the Herald reported on police concerns about a 'ramping up' of 3D printed firearms being used by organised crime groups. In 2023, a 501 deportee was charged by police for illegally manufacturing 3D printed pistols. Meta's online policies allow educational material about weapon safety, training and licensing but say content promoting the sale of weapons, including tasers, ammunition or explosives is forbidden. Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald's video team in July 2024.
TechCrunch
a day ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Google says UK government has not demanded an encryption backdoor for its users' data
The U.K. government is reportedly backing down from its earlier demand that Apple builds a secret backdoor allowing its authorities access to customer data worldwide, following a harsh rebuke from the U.S. government. But one U.S. senator wants to know if other tech giants, like Google, have also received secret backdoor demands from the U.K. government. Google refused to answer the lawmaker's questions, but has since confirmed to TechCrunch that the technology giant has not received a backdoor demand. Earlier this year, The Washington Post reported that the U.K. Home Office sought a secret court order in the U.K.'s surveillance court demanding that Apple allows U.K. authorities to access the end-to-end encrypted cloud data stored on any customer in the world, including their iPhone and iPad backups. Apple encrypts the data in such a way that only customers, and not Apple, can access their data stored on its servers. Under U.K. law, tech companies subject to secret surveillance court orders, such as Apple, are legally barred from revealing details of an order, or the existence of the order itself, despite details of the demand publicly leaking earlier this year. Critics called the secret order against Apple 'draconian,' saying it would have global ramifications for users' privacy. Apple has since appealed the legality of the order. In a new letter sent to top U.S. intelligence official Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday, Sen. Ron Wyden, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that while tech companies cannot say whether they have received a U.K. order, at least one technology giant has confirmed that it hasn't received one. Meta, which uses end-to-end encryption to protect user messages sent between WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, told Wyden's office on March 17 that the company has 'not received an order to backdoor our encrypted services, like that reported about Apple.' Google, for its part, would not tell Wyden's office if it had received a U.K. government order for accessing encrypted data, such as Android backups, 'only stating that if it had received a technical capabilities notice, it would be prohibited from disclosing that fact,' said Wyden. Google spokesperson Karl Ryan told TechCrunch in a statement: 'We have never built any mechanism or 'backdoor' to circumvent end-to-end encryption in our products. If we say a product is end-to-end encrypted, it is.' When explicitly asked by TechCrunch, Ryan said: 'We haven't received a technical capabilities notice,' referring to any U.K. surveillance order. Wyden's letter, first reported by The Washington Post and shared with TechCrunch, called on Gabbard to make public its 'assessment of the national security risks posed by the U.K.'s surveillance laws and its reported secret demands of U.S. companies.' This story was updated with additional comment from Google, shared in response to a TechCrunch inquiry.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Google won't say if UK secretly demanded a backdoor for user data
The U.K. government is reportedly backing down from its earlier demand that Apple builds a secret backdoor allowing its authorities access to customer data worldwide, following a harsh rebuke from the U.S. government. But one U.S. senator wants to know if other tech giants, like Google, have also received secret backdoor demands from the U.K. government, and Google has so far refused to say. Earlier this year, The Washington Post reported that the U.K. Home Office sought a secret court order in the U.K.'s surveillance court demanding that Apple allows U.K. authorities to access the end-to-end encrypted cloud data stored on any customer in the world, including their iPhone and iPad backups. Apple encrypts the data in such a way that only customers, and not Apple, can access their data stored on its servers. Under U.K. law, tech companies subject to secret surveillance court orders, such as Apple, are legally barred from revealing details of an order, or the existence of the order itself, despite details of the demand publicly leaking earlier this year. Critics called the secret order against Apple 'draconian,' saying it would have global ramifications for users' privacy. Apple has since appealed the legality of the order. In a new letter sent to top U.S. intelligence official Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday, Sen. Ron Wyden, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that while tech companies cannot say whether they have received a U.K. order, at least one technology giant has confirmed that it hasn't received one. Meta, which uses end-to-end encryption to protect user messages sent between WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, told Wyden's office on March 17 that the company has 'not received an order to backdoor our encrypted services, like that reported about Apple.' Google, for its part, has refused to tell Wyden's office if it had received a U.K. government order for accessing encrypted data, such as Android backups, 'only stating that if it had received a technical capabilities notice, it would be prohibited from disclosing that fact,' Wyden said. Google spokesperson Karl Ryan told TechCrunch in a statement: 'We have never built any mechanism or 'backdoor' to circumvent end-to-end encryption in our products. If we say a product is end-to-end encrypted, it is.' When explicitly asked by TechCrunch, Google would not say whether or not it has to date received an order from the U.K. government. Wyden's letter, first reported by The Washington Post and shared with TechCrunch, called on Gabbard to make public its 'assessment of the national security risks posed by the U.K.'s surveillance laws and its reported secret demands of U.S. companies.' Sign in to access your portfolio
TechCrunch
2 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Google won't say if UK secretly demanded a backdoor for user data
The U.K. government is reportedly backing down from its earlier demand that Apple builds a secret backdoor allowing its authorities access to customer data worldwide, following a harsh rebuke from the U.S. government. But one U.S. senator wants to know if other tech giants, like Google, have also received secret backdoor demands from the U.K. government, and Google has so far refused to say. Earlier this year, The Washington Post reported that the U.K. Home Office sought a secret court order in the U.K.'s surveillance court demanding that Apple allows U.K. authorities to access the end-to-end encrypted cloud data stored on any customer in the world, including their iPhone and iPad backups. Apple encrypts the data in such a way that only customers, and not Apple, can access their data stored on its servers. Under U.K. law, tech companies subject to secret surveillance court orders, such as Apple, are legally barred from revealing details of an order, or the existence of the order itself, despite details of the demand publicly leaking earlier this year. Critics called the secret order against Apple 'draconian,' saying it would have global ramifications for users' privacy. Apple has since appealed the legality of the order. In a new letter sent to top U.S. intelligence official Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday, Sen. Ron Wyden, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that while tech companies cannot say whether they have received a U.K. order, at least one technology giant has confirmed that it hasn't received one. Meta, which uses end-to-end encryption to protect user messages sent between WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, told Wyden's office on March 17 that the company has 'not received an order to backdoor our encrypted services, like that reported about Apple.' Google, for its part, has refused to tell Wyden's office if it had received a U.K. government order for accessing encrypted data, such as Android backups, 'only stating that if it had received a technical capabilities notice, it would be prohibited from disclosing that fact,' Wyden said. Google spokesperson Karl Ryan told TechCrunch in a statement: 'We have never built any mechanism or 'backdoor' to circumvent end-to-end encryption in our products. If we say a product is end-to-end encrypted, it is.' When explicitly asked by TechCrunch, Google would not say whether or not it has to date received an order from the U.K. government. Wyden's letter, first reported by The Washington Post and shared with TechCrunch, called on Gabbard to make public its 'assessment of the national security risks posed by the U.K.'s surveillance laws and its reported secret demands of U.S. companies.'
